A Tangible User Interface System for CAVE Applicat

This paper describes a 3D, tangible user interface system and related interaction techniques for the CAVE environment. The developed system is based on off-the shelf software and hardware components to provide 3D input data for CAVE applications. A CAVE with four sides (three walls and a floor) is used as a display and interaction space. Interaction tasks (selection, manipulation, navigation) are performed using interaction techniques based on manipulation of physical objects (props). All virtual objects are directly manipulated using the corresponding props to which Augmented Reality physical markers are attached. Each physical marker corresponds to a specific virtual object. The floor projection (a white rectangle overlaid on top of the application generated video stream) or a directional light create illumination necessary for computer vision based marker detection using ARToolKit. Initial evaluation results are positive and provide directions for future research.